Historically, Morocco had a large and respectable Jewish community which enjoyed a special status under French colonial rule. In the 1950s, the movement for Morocco’s independence progressed, and at the same time, anti-Semitic sentiments intensified. Moroccan Jews became attracted to Zionism, expressing interest in immigrating to Israel, in contradiction to Moroccan law and interests. By the end of the 1950s, the Mossad had begun operating an underground network within the Moroccan communities, bringing Moroccan Jews to Israel by a ship known as “Egoz” which tragically gained fame after sinking on 10 January 1961, resulting in the loss of 46 lives, 44 of them immigrants. Consequently, the underground was publicly suppressed, but the king of Morocco expressed a principled agreement to the emigration of Jews, as long as it would not be official or in cooperation with Israel. Using HIAS, an American-Jewish humanitarian organization, as a front for Israel, Operation Yachin was established bringing nearly 100,000 Jews to Israel within a few years. Moroccan Jews quickly became one of the strongest and most distinct groups in the State of Israel.
